Pages

8/1/14

The Designated White Knight

Good actions give strength to
ourselves and inspire good actions in others.

Plato

As the
internet flares up with women arguing back and forth whether chivalry is sexist
or not and men argue whether chivalry reduces their manhood or enhances it; the
reality is that women are targets of violent acts because of their gender. And
this is not just a local issue, but rather a global and historical problem,
something that is conveniently ignored by men and women who complain about
chivalry. So when I run into news about men stepping up and doing their part, I
am filled with hope for mankind.

The
Brothers for Sisters Movement in Russia consists of young Gentlemen making sure
that a lady is able to walk home after dark, where she is able to reach their
front door safely completely free of charge. No courtship, no romancing, and no
obligation; just a secure escort.

“Meeting
young ladies, walking them home safe late at night, offering some help—that's
what our group does… We set it up only to help tackle this particular problem
our communities are facing now."

Denis Shotikov, 29, was helping restore an old
horse stable in an equestrian center in St. Petersburg. As several female
students left the center at night, Denis and several other in the center felt uncomfortable
sending these women out into the dangerous streets. Having heard the horror
stories of what women have to face while walking alone at night, they decided
to start escorting the ladies to make sure that they got home safe. Seeing how
well it worked and the good he was doing, Denis made an open call in the social
media, inviting other young men to join the ranks of the “brothers” as well as
an open invitation for “sisters” not to be shy about asking for help. That was
the birth of Brothers for Sisters.

Keep in mind that any man wanting to join as a “brother”
has to pass a rigorous selection process, involving several interviews and
background checks. They began coordinating with the local authorities, since
many of the brothers are off duty police men themselves. All candidates and
members are required to be reasonably fit, and aren’t allowed to smoke, drink,
or swear. What started as a couple of guys making sure their friend got home safe
has grown into an entire social movement.

And their involvement helping others out
started to grow past their “escort” service, a service where the brothers
usually use their own cars. They have been called to handle aggressive ex-boyfriends
or ex-husbands, to scare off the occasional stalker, or simply let a guy
understand that No means No. And the community has taken note.

Since many of the cases dealt by these
gentlemen often requires a good
level of physical fitness, the local gyms have offered free gym access a hand
to hand combat coach to train them. After learning that the brothers use their
own cars to take these young women home and simply patrol the more dangerous
parts of town, the owners of the local gas stations offered to fill their cars,
free of charge.

Many people could assume that these modern
knights are doing this to meet ladies. To those comments, Denis replies “There are plenty of
opportunities in our country to meet girls without going to all this trouble.
And I am married, actually. My wife is the first person I spoke to when I first
thought of setting up such an organization in our town.” He explains how all volunteers
are discouraged from accepting invitations from the ladies they are helping
out, even for something as simple as tea or coffee, as it might give an improper
message.

The Brotherhood’s
founder believes that most if not all men have a deep-seated urge to be
warriors. Some, however, choose to exercise that urge playing video games.
"They just sit there in front of a computer, playing at tanks, defending
their virtual motherland from virtual enemies. Meanwhile, there are real
enemies out there in the street, attacking our girlfriends, our children, our mothers.
Why don't these virtual heroes do something about that?"

Club Men

--Copyright Notice--

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Being Caballero with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Logo and quotes are the exclusive property of Being Caballero and are protected under the United States and International Copyright laws. The logo may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without the written permission of Eduardo García, Being Caballero.